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Rose and Bulls ready to deliver for Christmas

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or their Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Bulls and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.

Not that it was a sad Christmas morning for Derrick Rose, but he said there was nothing under the tree in his Bulls hotel room before Sunday’s game against the Lakers.

“The only gift I actually got,” said Rose, who got his early holiday present with his new Bulls contract last week, “my girlfriend gave me a painting of Malcolm X.”

Rose said a little girl also came up to him in Los Angeles and gave him a Christmas card and an old fashioned cell phone attachment.

Rose conceded with a laugh in the Bulls locker room before the big Christmas Day matchup that he hadn’t gotten a gift for coach Tom Thibodeau.

“Nothing,” laughed Rose. “Hopefully, we can get him this win.”

Let me add another thing about this unusual superstar kid. Very few of the top players speak with reporters before games anymore, but Rose casually sits in his locker stall and invites queries. LeBron James did, but stopped amidst the hubbub of last season, though he’d make it more press conference format at times. Rose just remains the throwback. C’mon, sit down and let’s chat awhile.

Still, it always is a big game on Christmas Day and Rose and his teammates were looking forward to it.

“We have to approach it the same way,” said Rose. “With Thibs, he won’t let you approach it any other way. We have high expectations for ourselves. This is special. I think my mom is having something at her house. Other people are having things. It means a lot; it’s an honor to play on Christmas.

“We’re not taking anything for granted,” said Rose. “We’re going to show everybody we deserve to be playing out here on Christmas. We put a lot of hard work into our play. We have a lot of guys on our team who will do anything to win and people should see that.

“I think we’re way stronger (as a team),” said Rose. “We only changed one person (Richard Hamilton starting on Kobe Bryant) in the lineup. We have chemistry with one another. He’s a veteran and has played well with us and should be able to jell with us.”

Rose said he remembers watching Bulls games against the Knicks in the title years in Christmas Day. “Hard fought,” he says. “A lot of attention. Just wishing that the Bulls won.”

About Sam Smith

Smith covered the Bulls and the NBA for the Chicago Tribune for 25 years. He is the author of the best selling The Jordan Rules, which was top ten on the New York Times Bestseller List for three months. He is also the author of Second Coming: The Strange Odyssey of Michael Jordan and co-author of the Total Basketball Encyclopedia. Smith served as president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association for four terms, a feat no one else has accomplished. He has also served on committees for the NBA and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2012, Smith was honored by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with its Curt Gowdy Media Award.